FINAL BOX OFFICE: Disney’s ‘Maleficent’ Casts $69.4M Spell; ‘A Million Ways To Die In the West’ Flatlines At $16.7M; ‘X-Men’ Falls 64% In Second Week

Deadline Film Editor Anita Busch offers her post-mortem for the weekend, which saw Angelina Jolie's 'Maleficent' score big (especially overseas), while Seth MacFarlane's 'A Million Ways To Die In The West' went south fast.

OPENING: Maleficent (DIS) conjures up $69.4M ; A Million Ways To Die In The West(UNI) done for at $16.7M.

5th UPDATE, MONDAY, 1:40 PM:Disney’s announced $70M for numbers on Maleficent even though no one else could conceive of it making that number, but the studio sure got its $70M headline around the world, didn’t it? We didn’t bite and kept it in the $68M+ to $69M+ range. Perception is reality, but the reality is it made $69.4M and now (surprise) the international numbers for Frozen just happened to come in higher in Japan. A bit of a balancing act to squeeze out their $2 billion worldwide box office boast. Would one day have mattered? Meanwhile, Seth MacFarlane’s R-rated roustabout A Million Ways To Die In The Westwill end up with less than $17M. When the dust cleared this morning, the raunchy comedy kicked in only $16.7M for Universal which saddled up for this disaster in anticipation of MacFarlane’s Ted sequel. Fox’s X-Men: Days Of Future Past fell, as reported, 64% in its second weekend and Warner Bros’ Blended and Uni’s Neighbors (in its fourth weekend) were neck in neck all weekend and ended up only $64,000 apart. Blended took the No. 5 spot.

Next Weekend Openers: The Tom Cruise sci-fi actioner Edge Of Tomorrow from Warner Bros. The screenwriter on the pic, which also stars Emily Blunt, is Christopher McQuarrie, who has worked with Cruise before on Jack Reacher and Valkyrie. The film already bowed overseas to a soft $20M in 28 markets. From 20th Century Fox (I can’t help but think this should have been a Fox Searchlight release) will be the highly anticipated adaptation of the YA John Green novel The Fault In Our Stars with Divergent‘s Shailene Woodley and Ansel Egort starring. It will open day and date in about 20 markets. Chef, which has been getting tremendous word-of-mouth, expands next weekend to around 1,200 theaters. Here’s the final weekend chart:

4th UPDATE, SUNDAY 8:27 AM: Disney just logged in and expects Maleficent to gross $70M this weekend, a bit higher than all other distribs have it. The highest being $69.1M … of course, it’s all predicated on Sunday moviegoing so these are all estimates until tomorrow morning when the final numbers (closer estimates) come in. $70M sounds better than $68M+ or $69M, just as $51M sounded better a few weeks back than $49M. And with $70M, this public company can boast that they reached $2B worldwide — $2,055B, to be exact. Either way, this picture is Angelina Jolie‘s best opener to date, both domestically and internationally where it is pulling in big numbers. IMAX took in 16 of the film’s top 20 runs and they brought in $6.7M on 347 screens.

UPDATED, SUNDAY 8:13 AM: Estimates for the 3-day weekend are coming in and it appears that Disney’s Maleficent is on track for a $68M to $69M+ weekend, which is the high end of what it was tracking on Thursday, but right in line with our guesstimates. That gross is predicated on a 25% drop on Sunday. If it falls greater than that, it will obviously see a lower number, but all bets are on that it will be in that range. Disney has not yet weighed in with what it thinks Maleficent will do, but will update when they do (see update above). Their pic received a 5% to 6% bump yesterday … from the all-important family audience. When it bowed on Thursday late nights we saw that the picture was skewing older and then the only question was whether Moms and Dads would bring their children into the theater, based on the dark marketing campaign. They did. The Angelina Jolie-starring 3-D fantasy film, which has a budget of $170M to $180M, also opened internationally day and date as well so stay tuned today as my colleague Nancy Tartaglione will post as soon as the market numbers roll in.

Next weekend is Tom Cruise’s Edge of Tomorrow and The Fault in Our Stars (which is going to grab the young adult market and, yes, I’ll say it, outperform and stick around as positive word-of-mouth takes hold and should cross into older demos as it does), but given that there is nothing geared directly at families out there, Maleficent may enjoy a hold. It’s not that great of a movie, but I’m saying that given the A CinemaScore and the lack of other family-type offerings. Worth mentioning that Producer Joe Roth has two pictures in the Top Ten — Maleficent and Million Dollar Arm and Heaven is For Real (Randall Wallace’s film he produced) is No. 13 and has taken in about $88M for Sony. (Edge of Tomorrow also opened international in advance of its domestic run.) Roth and Jolie have nice participation deals on Maleficent, btw.

How the West Was Lost … er, sorry, A Million Ways to Die in the West … has one foot in the grave after opening to a lackluster $17M over the three-day weekend. Perhaps Seth MacFarlane shot himself in the foot by casting himself in the lead. Despite the inclusion of other actors around him who moviegoers actually like — Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson and host of hosts Neil Patrick Harris — this one hit the dirt. Not paydirt. Dirt. Audiences have spoken. MacFarlane has better luck behind the camera, but unless there is another Brady Bunch movie … oh wait, never mind, Christopher Knight is still around … when they cast a Barbie movie, he could always play Poindexter. Internationally, it’s only taken in $10.3M in 21 markets.

For those pics in their second weekends, X-Men: Days of Future Past is staring at an expected 64% drop to bring in about $32.6M over the three-day. If it falls a greater percentage, will report that tomorrow, but right now, I think the 64% is a fair assessment. So readers can see a point of comparison, Godzilla dropped 65% in its second weekend, X-Men: The Last Stand also dropped 67% in its sophomore frame after the Memorial Day holiday. Captain America: The Winter Soldier dropped about 51% in its second frame while ASM2 dropped 59%. DOFP‘s gross is hovering around $162.7M domestically compared to Godzilla, which is at roughly $174.5M after three weeks. International numbers have not yet arrived on either picture. One note: X-Men: Days of Future Past actually held on better than expected Saturday, rising 47% and adding about another $900,o00K from Friday’s estimates. Worldwide cume on this pic now sits at around $500M.

Warner Bros.’Blended and Uni’s Neighbors have kind of been in a dispute all weekend as who would take the No. 5 spot. It looks like Blended this morning, which is expected to drop about 42% in its second weekend out. From the looks of all the numbers, the two comedies appear to be only about $100,000 to $200,000 apart right now with Blended stepping around its Neighbors this AM, however Universal has it at a lower at $7.7M and expects it to drop about 45%. Time will tell, but the Seth Rogen comedy has grossed … wait for it … over $200M worldwide. So the tale of two Seths … one Seth loses, the other wins big, both out of Universal. Here is how they stand this morning.

NOTEWORTHY:Chef (OPRD) is expanding to 1,000 theaters next weekend to capitalize on the strong, positive word-of-mouth it’s been enjoying.

3rd UPDATE, SATURDAY, 11:11 PM:Disney’s Maleficent had a bump of around 6% on Saturday thanks to the family audience. Estimates tonight peg it anywhere between $66M to $69M after casting a Saturday spell of around $24M to $25M+. It will be clearer in the morning after all the numbers are known, but it’s on the high end of our original Thursday estimate.

Meanwhile, the draw in moviegoing for Seth MacFarlane’s A Million Ways to Die in the West from Friday to Saturday was pretty flat (only up 2%) which puts it around $17M+ and is a big disappointment for Universal and all involved.

In its sophomore frame, Fox’s X-Men: Days of Future Pastheld better than had been expected with an estimated $13.9M Saturday, down 52% from the debut Saturday before. Also in its second weekend, Blended (WBros.) is right in line with previous estimates to drop about 43% from last weekend’s 3-day gross. Neighbors got a little bump on Saturday and may actually leapfrog over Blended to take the No. 5 spot in the box office Top Five. More to come in the morning.

2nd UPDATE, SATURDAY, 7:20 AM: With updated numbers this AM, I’m raising the estimate of Maleficent to $65M to $70M. Even if the film is flat in its attendance today, it will still manage $65M and if it gets the bump family audiences bring, it could head to $68M or $70M+. If it drops today and tonight, then it could come in around $62M to $65M. I’ve been predicting $68M. The IMAX screens that Godzilla held onto and Maleficent has this weekend are undoubtedly helping. In fact, the pic took in roughly 13.3% of that $4.2M late night gross on Thursday for Disney. Thanks to Angelina Jolie, the solid outdoor campaign and striking key art. Kudos to the Disney marketing team lead by Ricky Strauss. The sell in the audio-visual campaign is quite adult and looks too scary for kids, but the movie really isn’t frightening at all except maybe to very young children — PG rating and an A CinemaScore (surprised me). The budget for this CGI laden, 3-D extravaganza is said to be between $170M and $180M. Internationally, Maleficent did more than $20M yesterday bringing the cume since Wednesday to about $41M. For how many countries it’s playing in and how it’s doing, check out the story my colleague Nancy Tartaglione (thrilled to have her back) filed here.

A Million Ways to Die in the Westis actually worse this morning than predicted. Lowering that estimate to $16M to $17M+, and at this rate, this Seth MacFarlane indulgence won’t even break even for Universal. Look westward, I mean onward ho to Ted 2. Disaster. To say anything else would be putting lipstick on a pig. Universal is sticking to a $40M budget, but others say it’s actually $57M to $59M.

In its second weekend, X-Men: Days of Future Past is still on track to take around a 65% dump for a weekend expected in at $31M+ to $32M+. At the end of this three-day, it will have nabbed $162.2M. Godzilla will have taken in $173.5M in three weeks. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be roughly at $192.5M after five weeks in play. Here you go:

PREVIOUSLY, FRIDAY, 10:56 PM: Disney’s magical mystical tour is expected in with a total of $23M to $24M+ Friday for an estimated cume of around anywhere from $63M to $70M over the three-day weekend (must see Saturday numbers). Disney noted earlier in the day that Maleficent‘s matinees were similar to last year’s Oz: The Great and Powerful and that they are hoping to tap into a flux of school kids into the marketplace. They say about 43% of kids are enjoying summer vacation already; the question has been whether they will enjoy this movie? The film started off strong on Thursday late night beginning at 7 p.m., continued that strength this afternoon and then began to fall off a bit in late nights. The fantasy pic that stars around Angelina Jolie in a CGI world (and an est. $165M to $170M budget) heads into the Saturday/Sunday family moviegoing days with a A CinemaScore. We’ll see what kind of bump it gets tomorrow … I know the estimated range tonight is wide … but it’s hard to predict at the moment as we need to see what happens Saturday. It could be $62M or other configurations could bring it higher ($68M to $70M). The trailer is scarier than the film but nothing is as scary as Fox’s X-Men: Days of Future Past‘s second weekend expected 65% percentage decline or the low-end gross of A Million Ways to Die in the West.

It seems as though movie goers are heeding rotten reviews of Seth MacFarlane’s A Million Ways to Die in the West (UNI) as the pic is expected to lasso around $7M Friday for a total of $18M to $20M for the three-day, which was lower than the low end of the estimate going into the weekend. Probably because a). the advertising looks like a TV mow for a low-end cable network, b). MacFarlane cast himself as the leading man, and c). the crude, sophomoric comedy is only funny to teenage boys (and those 40 year-old guys who have yet to move out of their parents’ basements). Don’t worry, Seth. You’ll always have Paris … or maybe you won’t … we’ll have to see the international numbers on Sunday. So let me rephrase that, you’ll always have Ted (and its sequel). The budget on this thing was said to be around $57M to $59M (Uni claims $40M). It got a B CinemaScore.

Also in its second weekend is the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore I’ve-seen-it-before comedy Blended which is falling less than 45% for an estimated gross of $8.1M for Warner Bros. Here is the chart as it looks tonight. Estimates and positions may change in the morning.

147 Comments

Maybe people are confused by the reviews “A Million Ways” got? Half the critics said it was garbage while the other half said it was great…so which is it?

Why spend money to see a flick the critics can’t agree on, plus there’s so much killer competition in theaters right now.

Roy • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Mixed reviews didn’t seem to hurt Maleficent.

Rob J. • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

I almost hate to bring this up, but Idiocracy’s reviews were this divided (especially among people that saw it) and it’s now a cult classic.

Rob J. • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Now that I’ve just hit “send,” I need to clarify:

Idiocracy’s reviews were divided, especially in the audience at large (ie: “(people who saw it” who were not critics.)

Oh, how I wish Deadline would add an edit button!

Robert • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

The audience is a better gauge for what or what is worth seeing; Take a look at the second week drop off for most films instead; instead of relying on some critic who doesn’t have to pay to see a film, and therefore shouldn”t decide if it’s worth our money or not.

babe • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

A Million Ways will get watched and rewatched a hundred billion times in frat houses everywhere, endlessly quoted around water coolers and in lunchrooms everywhere… it will have the real legs.

Stop bashing comedies for the Disney knock-off pics…

Phlegmbot • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

It’s sad that you’re probably right.

When MacFarlane takes the reins on something, it usually means no story and a plethora of out-dated and uninteresting ’80s references. Pop in a genre no one cares about anymore (sadly) and casting himself as the star he feels he should be…

And a $17M opening s/b considered VERY lucky.

Fox Hound • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Too bad no one’s heeding the rotten reviews for Maleficent. Its actually garbage.

recycler • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Gee, people are disobeying their critic overlords and actually going out to enjoy a movie on a Friday night? Terrible state of affairs.

doperganger • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Thanks for adding to the Bo.

lol

Phred • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

The movie dragged even though it was relatively short. Nothing special about it other than the SFX. Hate having to put up with Disney’s political views slipstreamed in through their movies.

Neil • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Actually Maleficent isn’t terrible. The difference between audiences and AMERICAN critics (European press have been much much more positive) is that audiences first and foremost want to be entertained and then work back from that and add up the reasons why, whereas critics don’t see entertainment as the bottom line and instead see it merely as one factor of many adding up to whether a film “works or not”.
My prediction is Jolie’s Maleficent will become an iconic figure and the movie, much like Brad’s, “Fight Club” will become a cult favorite.

Robert • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Saw Maleficent. Very entertaining! Angelina is amazing in it.

Ed • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Amazing really Robert either you 12 years old and a complete loser. The film sucked.

turnitup • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

This movie is critic proof. Everyone who’s going is going because they want to watch Angelina Jolie chew the scenery in a role she seems born for.

Hollywoodland • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Did it suck as much as your grammar, punctuation (or lack thereof), and syntax, Ed?

Anonymous • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

I enjoyed Maleficent. Nice, tight running time. Moments of wit contrasted with some darkness. Angelina really committed to the role. The cgi wasn’t perfect, but the production value was good; it felt like an expensive movie. Overall solid A-/B+

Disclaimer: I get discount tix through work, so I only paid $8, which helps me enjoy movies more than if I paid retail.

Shar • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

$60 million for that crappy movie? Why is it so expensive to make crappy western(Lone Ranger($215 mil), 100 million ways…), when good/great western hit movies have small to normal budget (True Grit $38 mil, Unforgiven $14.4 million)?

Ian • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

It doesn’t have to be expensive to make a crappy Western. MacFarlane spent only $40-50 million to make his.

Michael • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

I bet the expense was largely big name actors and the fact that he filmed in the desert in the middle of summer. But again, as I kind of said yesterday, a movie doesn’t have to make it’s cost on opening weekend. Just because it seems that all these big movies this year are making their budget opening weekend it doesn’t have to happen that way. So if it only makes $15M this weekend in US theaters, it’s not a failure. It wasn’t too long ago that $15M on opening weekend was considered huge.

Figure that $75M was spent on P & A (a high estimate), and the film needs about $500M worldwide to break even on box office. Based on the foreign and domestic openings and assuming families keep coming out, Maleficent should get there. Merchandise, DVD sales, etc. should net it quite a lot too. I’m sure a theme park experience is on the way, too.

GaryWolbert • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Stick a fork in A Million Ways to Flop!
It’s cooked! Worst comedy of the year, I smell
Razzies.

Todd • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

All the previews I saw made me want to stay very far from this movie.

TomF • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Disagree. I thought the previews were hilarious. I just feared the entire laugh proposition was captured in the trailer, and there’d be nothing more to be gained by actually seeing the movie.

What about us 40 year olds that half live in their mancaves in the shed because their wives wont let him watch his movies around the kids?

enoughseth • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

They should rename A Million Ways to Die in the West – A Million Ways for Seth to Continue to Fail Up in Hollywood. He needs to grow up. And the Studios need to stop wasting 60 mil on drivel.

Jeff • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

I just have to point out how badly you failed at making a joke.

How exactly is he “continuing to fail up in Hollywood?” This is his second movie and it was a risky venture being a comedy western in 2014. His other movie was a GIGANTIC hit.

A huge hit and a disappointment doesn’t equal “fail up in Hollywood.”

Kevin • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Yes, but his gigantic hit was not a good movie. Shock value, sure. Never I have seen Mila Kunis with so little to do. Every actor passed on that role and they got REAL lucky with Wahlberg.

As for the film itself, I thought I liked it on first viewing. A year later a buddy had not seen it and I suggested we watch it. He didn’t laugh once and neither did I. It’s a terrible movie.
Sure, if you laugh at making fun of Brandon Routh… hilarious stuff.

Failing upwards indeed in terms of the film business.

Stefan • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Failing is measured objectively. By that standard he isn’t failing. Whether you and your friend like his movies or type of comedy is irrelevant to labeling him a success or failure.

anon • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

what do you mean, “he needs to grow up”? he’s a comedian.

Orlando • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Damn if those numbers hold up those will be some huge drops for DOFP and Godzilla. If DOFP numbers are like this I’m pretty sure that ‘Cap 2′ will be the highest grossing domestic CBM this year.

Mike Stewart • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

I agree. Dont look now Spidey haters but that movie is going to reach 200 million. Yea yea I know its not the best, but with the competition the last 3 weeks, its holding pretty good.

Stefan • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

I’m not a Spidey hater, but I am an Orci and Kurtzman hater. Spider-Man has massive global awareness (probably second only to Batman) and the film used one of the classic Spider-Man story points (death of Gwen Stacey). You’re right: finishing with about $720M global will technically be a win. But it’s a missed opportunity. With massive box office growth in Southeast Asia the last five years and 3-D premiums, ASM2 should should have been hitting $900M, not running even with a Captain America sequel.

Jones • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Two things I know about Seth Mcfarlane: (1) He can be quite hilarious but not all the time and (2) Seth Mcfarlane can voice whoever or whatever he damn well wants but I don’t want to see his face. So I’m avoiding West and it seems many others are because Seth Mcfarlane always looks like a deer in the headlights when he’s on screen (see his horrible academy award hosting) and yet he still appears deeply smug at all the famous people around him he gets to order around. That and it looks ok but nothing special. The bad reviews kill my slight interest in this as well. Good luck with Ted 2 I guess.

maxi • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

X-Men – Days Of Future Past should be number 1 again, enjoyed it a lot, and will be seeing it for the 3rd time this weekend.

chef fan • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Really surprised at chefs numbers this weekend. Great word of mouth & its stagnant? Does anyone know if it will expand further so the masses can access it?

Walter • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Saw it the other day, great little movie! Lots of laughter and applause in the cinema!

Yestle • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Million ways to die is definitely a miss… but your analysis sounds personal… a) did the advertising look bad? Because the movie looks very good. He has a good eye. B) yes seth should not have cast himself as the lead. He’s likeable but no leading man. The rest of the cast was awesome. C) the crude humor made ted huge so that point makes little sense. it had little story and no focus and the hunor was all over the place. Crude to over the top to sweet to serious. the movie didn’t know what it was. Seth will be fine. Family giy. American dad. Ted. One missfire means nothing. Ted 2 better be good though.

Will Graham • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Seth MacFarlane fans are bad mouthing A Million Ways to Die in The West. Reading around, it seems roughly a third have any real interest in this or saw it and thought it was good.

Jack • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

X-men week 2, Godzilla week 3

HowManyTentpolesCollapseATent? • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Why do studios insist on opening a tentpole every single weekend, which is obviously killing the hold of the previous weekend’s tentpole? This is like mutually assured destruction.

Ed • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Log-jamming is what I call it. Spielberg and Lucas spoke of how the industry is going to implode, and opening so many expensive movies every single freakin’ weekend is what will cause their theory to be proven right. If Hollywod got their heads out to the sand, they’d see that releasing to many $200 million tentpoles every weekend, that some are going to have to fail, no matter how good or bad they are. The general audiences cannot afford both finically or time-wise to see so many of these movies. And with so many movies slated for release in 2015, I expect to see a ton of box office disasters, simply because there are too damn movies being made, and at expensive price tags. Something has to fail with those risk factors.

Stefan • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

I’ll never understand why May has become in the last decade the month to open everything. Very few flicks will have the ability to open big and have legs. Disney seems to be the only studio consistently making smart, non-risky release decisions. Maleficent is the first film in a while with any appeal for females and families, and won’t have much competition for those audiences until HTTYD2. Cap 2 opened in early April, had a month with no direct competition, and looks to finish as the top grossing comic book film of the year domestically (and in a virtual tie with ASM2 globally). Guardians of the Galaxy will probably overperform by being held until August.

SallyinChicago • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

would anyone know: a) how much salary for AJ? b) how much did it cost;c) what’s the break even point for the movie?

BL • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

$20M
$180M officially, $220M+ unofficially
$750M if you include the cost of marketing.

Opening at $70M may allow Disney to save face with their investors, but this movie will probably take a write down around $100M depending on how well it holds the next couple of weeks.

Dani • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

So we’re essentially seeing the same thing we saw last summer: big movies open big, but fall fast. When movies like Spidermna, Godzilla, XMen, etc. have problems cracking 200 mil, you got a problem. I wonder what will happen when/if the international bubble bursts.

filmgoer • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

All three movies X-Men, Spider-man, Godzilla, are all expected to cross the 200m plus mark before they end their run. “Maleficent” is expected to end with $178m. What I find amusing is that a film like “Noah”, bashing and all, will probably lose less money than the highly praised bore “Godzilla”.

NVF • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

There is so much focus on the opening weekend, studios are missing upside during the sustain period, the weeks after the movie opens. I studied with an economist at Berkley who developed a model that showed how the studios were missing opportunities and proposed some things they could do to get better returns. The work was brilliant and he couldn’t get any studios to return his calls. The message was clear, you don’t know our business so stay away. He was offering that research for free and no one even wanted to look at it.

“a). the advertising looks like a TV mow for a low-end cable network, b). MacFarlane cast himself as the leading man, and c). the crude, sophomoric comedy is only funny to teenage boys (and those 40 year-old guys who have yet to move out of their parents’ basements).”

A and b are valid points. The entire marketing campaign has been terrible and MacFarlane is unknown as a live action actor. C is a bit silly since Ted, the Hangover trilogy, and nearly every Adam Sandler movie have relied on that type of humor, and they have made quite a bit of money. The biggest problem for Million Ways is that it is a western hybrid. Very few westerns, of any sort, have done well at the box office in the last twenty years. After Cowboys and Aliens, Lone Ranger, and Million Ways, the genre should be dead.

It would have helped if MacFarlane had not included so many traditional western action scenes, and had instead made this a pure comedy. The movie loses focus with the action scenes and, as a result, it drags in the third act. Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, and Liam Neeson are underused, and Theron should have been given more to do than say “fuck” a lot. It was still a good enough movie, if you enjoy comedies.

ari • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

You cannot call the movies you named Westerns. They are corruptions of the genre and rarely are these movies successful (if ever). TRUE GRIT, on the other hand, did quite well as it was a classic western done with taste and intelligence and was true to the genre.

Pvt. Duke • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

I agree about True Grit. And box office wise, it cleaned up. $170 mil on a sub-$40 mil budget. By comparison, Django is viewed as a big hit and even that only made $160 mil against $100 mil, or thereabouts.

michonne • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Django cleaned up overseas. True Grit totally bombed overseas but it was cheap so it didn’t need those markets. That said, it proves that western is not a boxoffice draw for international markets unless it has maketable names attached, such as Tarantino and Leo.

Pj • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Million ways to die was dreadfully bad. I’m talking Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!!!

Jeff • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

lol @ the writer of this article, who is clearly bitter over the success Seth has had in his career.

“the crude, sophomoric comedy is only funny to teenage boys (and those 40 year-old guys who have yet to move out of their parents’ basements)”

How professional! “I don’t like his style of comedy, so clearly that means only teenage boys and losers like him.”

Absolutely embarrassing on your part.

Joan • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Look, I’m no fan of Seth’s, neither of his writing nor his acting. He looks like a botoxed Peter Brady. His humor IS crude and sophomoric. And yes, man-boys like that stuff. But suggesting the writer bitter is just stupid. What’s obvious though, is that your are clearly a giggling fanboy.

avidfilmgal • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

I always thought that Seth Mac Farlane was a computer generated image !

Maryann • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

I think one of the problems with Seth’s movie is that it is up against one tentpole after another. I wanted to see it, but I can’t get to the movies every weekend, and Godzilla, X-Men and Maleficent are higher on my list of movies to actually see atthe theater, rather than waiting for Netflix. And I DO want to see it. The previews looked better thqn any comedies in recent years.

MexyMartini • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

AN “A” Cinemascore.

Also, MacFarlane should have cast somebody else in the lead. A good 50% of the audience do not like looking at him.

Jeff • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

There is literally no basis for what you just said.

jake • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

Sure there is: film is a visual medium. Turn down the sound on any movie, what are your eyes drawn to? The star. Eyes are not drawn to Sethie-poo. He’s probably a handsome dude in real life and all, but on screen he just looks like Charlie Brown. Your eye isn’t drawn to him.

Mel • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

No, not Charlie Brown. As someone else said, Peter Brady on Botox.

Joe • on Jun 2, 2014 1:40 pm

In defense of all 40+ year old men that still live at home with their moms, this movie never looked funny.